The white man in that photo | GRIOT

I never knew the backstory of this man—Peter Norman—until now… very interesting! TL;DR: he consciously chose to stand with these men, and was ostracized from the Australian Olympic community as a result.

The two Americans had asked Norman if he believed in human rights. Norman said he did. They asked him if he believed in God, and he, who had been in the Salvation Army, said he believed strongly in God. “We knew that what we were going to do was far greater than any athletic feat, and he said “I’ll stand with you” – remembers John Carlos – “I expected to see fear in Norman’s eyes, but instead we saw love.”